Mentally unstable man hijacks bus; rams into vehicles;9 dead

Swargate (Pune), Jan 25: In what can be called an extreme case of road rage, a mentally unstable man took over a state transport bus for an hour and rammed it into whichever vehicles on the way killing 9 people. 30 people have been injured and taken to 4 hospitals nearby. [UPDATE: The final fate of the sick driver]

The incident happened at around 8am in the busy area. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver Santosh Mane is believed to have climbed on to a Pune-Satara-Pune bus, hijacked it and sped to the road outside the Swargate ST Depot. Speeding on he drove on the wrong side of the road leading to increase in damages. [Read: Pune rampage: Brave 21 year student captures rogue driver]

There are reports that the angry bus driver in a fit of rage rammed the bus into the crowd knocking down vehicles on the way. The police chased him for a while before apprehending him. Reports suggest that close to 30-40 vehicles were damaged in the road rage.

A Pune police control official has been quoted as saying to agencies, "So far, we have got reports of six pedestrians being killed in the incident and another 17 being injured, while two dozen vehicles have been damaged. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested from Nilayam Talkies area."[UPDATE: Pune bus driver who mowed down 9 people is 'normal']